Introduction to Stevie Nicks Music
 

Since I am a new member of this forum I feel the need to introduce myself and tell a short story about my admiration towards Queen of Rock and Roll-Stevie Nicks. My name is Piotrek and I live in a beautiful country-Poland. I had known Fleetwood Mac's 80's singles like "Little Lies" and "Everywhere" but I discovered Stevie Nicks in 2003, when I read an article about female rock stars. This particular article made me realize two things: 1). little did I know about 'female' rock scene; 2). little did I know about Fleetwood Mac's legacy and long history of recording career. I told myself: "Boy you have to do something about it, you have to get the knowledge". But no matter how much I was intrigued by Fleetwood Mac I decided to discover their output by starting with Stevie Nicks' solo projects. This is how I came by "The Other Side of The Mirror". It was my first Stevie Nicks album ever, my introduction to the fairytale world of the singer. I read all the reviews posted on Amazon and figured out that it probably would not be the "best first choice". But I took a chance and to be honest...I was taken aback like never before. The beauty of her voice captured me right from the first verses of "Rooms On Fire". I was possessed. It was magical experience, that instantly inspired me to write about 20 poems on my own (no matter how pretensious they seem to be now). It moved every muscle in my brain, inspired every single detail of my life. I used to spend hours analyzing lyrics or inflections of her voice. I knew I would have to explore her music and follow her artistic paths. The second album that I bought was "Street Angel". I was waiting for this album for months, since in Poland it is almost impossible to get any of Stevie Nicks solo albums. The album was worth waiting (no matter what other people say, including Stevie herself, I still think this album is magnificent). Then came: "Timespace", "Rock a Little", "Trouble In Shangri-La", "The Wild Heart", "In Your Dreams" and most recently (and most strangely) "Bella Donna". I don't know what Stevie Nicks' music gives YOU personally, but for me it's just a chance to cohabit with powerful and meaningful art, something that it's hard to put into few words. It's something, that grabs my heart and soul, that inspires me on every possible level, that gives me drive and motivation to set goals and realize them. I do what I can to "educate" my friends in the realm of Stevie Nicks' artistic greatness (my girlfriend says that Stevie is my "first true love"). I convince, them to give her a chance, just like I did it for myself almost ten years ago. For me it was life-changing, eyes-opening decision. All in all, I feel privileged to call myself a Stevie Nicks fan. Even though I haven't got a chance to see her live, I am proud to collect her CD's, DVD's and all that stuff...I am proud to be a part of her magical world of music...So, even from a distance...I am a big fan and that's what I wanted to share with YOU.:wavey:

I hope you will someday be in the audience for one of her concerts. Seeing Stevie sing live is truly magical! I share your obsession. Ha ha.;)

Welcome to The Ledge and thanks for sharing your story! :wavey:

Welcome to The Ledge. I'm always happy to have a new fan from different parts of the world contributing on here. Stevie has so inspired my life in a million different ways. I enjoyed reading your story. There is a huge stash of photographs out there for you waiting to be discovered.

Aww, I loved reading your story! I could listen to Stevie and only Stevie for the rest of my life and be perfectly content. When I listen to her music, everything is all right, and anything I have been worrying about just melts away. Her voice is SOO unique (obviously), and I love that she never had any formal musical training. All of her material is so personal because she sings HER way, and she always seems like she's enjoying every second of it.

Hi Piotrek! It's great how we all come to love Stevie by different routes and in different times. You, my friend, are one of the lucky ones who's found her late - and in the internet age! You have many, many hours of treasure-hunting ahead of you. Welcome!! :wavey:

HOLA !
Welcome to the Ledge, from one newbie to another, this is a great place and you'll meet some great people here :)

Welcome! :wavey: I'm fairly new here myself, and it's awesome. It's always a pleasure to be on this board and listen to other fans share their opinions on Stevie and the Mac's music, among other things. You're gonna like it here :)

I really enjoyed reading your story of discovering Stevie. Hope we will all hear more from you as you discover the wealth of treasures on the Ledge - demos, live performances, rare songs etc... There is a whole other world of Stevie beyond her albums.

Hello Piotrek & Welcome! :wavey: It's nice to meet you! We share a few things in common other than our love for Stevie Nicks.....my maternal grandfather was born in Poland and I too get on a writing binge to write poems while listening to Stevie. For me it's Rhiannon or Sister of the Moon. I enjoyed reading your intro! Take care, looking forward to hearing more from you!

Rock On!

That was beautifully written.. Welcome aboard!

Hi Piotrek .Welcome to our world.The Ledge.I love your story about how you descovered Stevie.

Welcome Piotrek :) I'm from Italy....not too far from you :) Though I live in Los Angeles.

Welcome to our world!! We are totally normal, just obsessed :]:blob2::D

Thank You all for welcome me in such a kind way! Correct me, if I'm wrong but it seems, that only STEVIE's fans can do that :)! I hope it will start interesting chapter in my explorations of Stevie's music. It's always a nice thing, when you are able to meet people who share your passion.

Hi Piotrek & welcome to The Ledge, thanks for sharing your story..

I'm singing now...Welcome to the room..poland!:thumbsup:

PolishStevieFan, that was a beautiful introduction. Welcome to The Ledge. I discovered Stevie in the 80's when I was very young. In college I saw a documentary on the making of the album Tusk. A lot of it is on YouTube now and very much worth watching. There is a part where Stevie and Lindsey Buckingham are working on the song Angel and trying to figure out the best way to sing the harmony. I had this on a videotape and watched it over and over and over again until I wore that part of the tape out. This is how I learned to sing harmony. I sang in a band through the 90's and always recorded my own harmonies like Stevie sometimes does. And I wrote almost all the lyrics, because I had taught myself to write song lyrics by picking apart Stevie's lyrics and seeing how she phrased things and put ideas into words. So I totally understand how you could sit down and write 20 poems. She is very much an inspiration to anyone with a creative spirit. And I'm sure your poems are very beautiful because they came from your heart. Thank you for sharing your story with us. And I hope you get into conversation with all of us here.

Also, now that you have a lot of Stevie's solo work, check out her work with Fleetwood Mac. And you'll find a lot of really beautiful songs on here to download that are not on any album, and while they are not always the best sound quality, there are some really wonderful songs. Soul Drifter posted some of these song in this link below and I think a lot of us would agree that these are some of the most popular of Stevie's unreleased works. If you haven't downloaded them yet, I think you'll like them. Enjoy.

http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showpo...&postcount=316

And again, thank you for being here. :wavey:

Thank God there's Internet, through which we can explore our passions and have nice conversations with people around the globe. I've always thought, that one of the easiest and best ways to get the knowledge is just through spoken word, through so-called interactions, even if these interactions are not particularly of the face-to-face kind. So, let's speak :)

Piotrek...We have the same first name!!!

How many Polish people does it take to
screw a lightbulb into a blue lamp?

just joking of course

Welcome to the Ledge. Your story is interesting
and your enthusiasm is appreciated. Though I'm
going to talk you out of liking Street Angel.

All in due time my friend.

Well, I don't think anyone will ever discourage me to like "Street Angel" -even the ones who have the very same first name :) I've been listening to this album since 2004 and still think it's one of her best. "Blue Denim", "Greta", "Rose Garden", "Listen To The Rain"-are some of the best songs for me. Truly, I can't believe that this album always gets harsh critique among Stevie's fans. I can't say it's total masterpiece, but for sure deserves some credit.

Daily Nebraskan, August 20, 2012
http://www.dailynebraskan.com/a-e/fe...cian-1.2750741

FENNELLY: Columnist vows to rediscover the rejected female musician

By Katie Fennelly

It all started with Stevie Nicks.

Correction: Like most good things, it started with a dreary late-night drive home. Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” came on the radio, a song I had probably heard dozens of times before, but that was the first night I actually heard it, if you know what I mean. If for some reason you don’t know what I mean, it’s that moment the music actually ‘clicks,’ where you feel you have an understanding 10 times deeper than any Pitchfork writer.

Also, you’re in for a long semester.

Before that night, Stevie Nicks was just a poorly formed memory of “Edge of Seventeen.” To be exact, Stevie was synonymous with an image of a drunken Joan Cusack whipping around a beer and spitting in Jack Black’s face. That was also the movie where they made a bunch of 18-year-olds pretend to be in grade school and miraculously become seasoned performers overnight, so I should have seen it wasn’t accurate from the start.

Before that long drive, I had heard of Fleetwood Mac, but that was about it. I had heard their music before, but couldn’t tell you it was them. For a while, I thought it was a guy named Fleetwood Mac; now that I know that Mick Fleetwood is a real person, it really doesn’t feel that far fetched.

Even now, after some extreme Google research, I don’t claim to know much about Stevie Nicks, mostly because I don’t. My friend’s 5-year-old daughter knows more about her than I do. But I shouldn’t try to compete with her; that same girl wore a Stevie Nicks shirt to her first day of kindergarten on Monday. I’m doing my best to abstain from any “too cool for school” jokes right now.

But when I examine my musical identity beyond the scope of Fleetwood Mac, my overall preferences become apparent. Sure, a majority of my iTunes library consists of folk music and pretty much anything that is just a total downer. But I also shy away from female musicians, and at an alarming rate. Stevie Nicks isn’t the story; she’s just the beginning.

It’s not that I don’t have a solid foundation. Growing up, music ran my household, and I am well aware that my dad, probably unbeknownst to him, went through a huge Sarah McLachlan phase in the ‘90s. I, however, did not.

My obscured bias became especially apparent when I saw how I treated female musicians. For some reason, whether it be personal or something society thrust upon me, many women with an instrument make me uncomfortable. And there’s proof. Last fall, I reviewed a dozen albums or so. Many featured female musicians. Many of those were all-around solid albums. I rated them highly. But when it came time to compile my top five albums from the semester, a whopping zero percent of the bands that made my list had a female musician.

But the problem extends beyond me. Earlier this year, Rolling Stone made a point to revise its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The first album to feature a female musician was The Velvet Underground and Nico’s appropriately titled “The Velvet Underground,” which came in at No. 13. To be fair, the list was extremely biased toward The Beatles (and probably rightly so.) “The Velvet Underground” was absolutely a great pick, but the notion that no woman was able to break the top 10 is alarming.

Women, it appears as though the odds are against us. For every strong female figure that has infiltrated today’s music culture, there are 10 men joking about violence against or the harassment of women. But it isn’t just rap or heavier music, it’s those bearded hipsters, too. If a woman decides to pick an acoustic guitar and sing a song about anything remotely sad, she’s considered weak. If a man does the same thing, he wins a Grammy, has blogs devoted to his beard and blows up Twitter as “Bonny Bear.”

The fact is, there are plenty of fantastic, culture-changing women musicians out there. But for some reason, they don’t receive the same recognition as their male counterparts.

As a woman, you’d think I’d know a thing or two about these things. But I don’t. So I’m taking it upon myself to make sure that this semester it’s going to be the women — not the men — that take center stage.